Here's what you should buy on Amazon Prime Day 2019 based on the best deals we've seen in past years

Amazon Prime Day 2019 is fast approaching — the 48-hour event starts July 15 — and it’s time to start preparing.

We’ve been sifting through Prime Day deals and showing you the best ones since 2015, so we have a good idea of the product categories and brands you should be focusing on this year.

They include Amazon devices and services, speakers and headphones, smart security and lighting, and kitchen appliances.

Learn more about everything related to Prime Day 2019 here, from how to use the Amazon app to never miss a deal, to the most popular deals our readers loved last year.

Shop the best Prime Day 2019 deals across tech, home, kitchen, and more. The Insider Picks team will be updating this list frequently.

Last year, Amazon pushed forward more than 1 million deals over the course of 1.5 days during its annual sales event, Prime Day. That’s a huge number, and it’s nice knowing you’ll have plenty of options to shop, but it’s also just plain overwhelming.

A million deals is more than enough to make your head spin, which is why Insider Picks rounds up the best Prime Day deals for you every year to help you save on a new piece of tech, kitchen appliance, or clothing — without having to spend hours clicking through pages of deals.

Read more: The best Amazon Prime Day 2019 deals Prime members can get starting today

Prime Day is bigger than ever and will be live for 48 hours this year, starting at 12 a.m. PT on July 15 and ending at 11:59 p.m. PT on July 16.

Again, it will feature more than 1 million deals around the world, including the biggest Prime Day deals ever on Alexa-enabled devices.

These are some early deals that have already been announced and hint at what’s to come on July 15-16:

Below, we’ve put together a general guide to the other types of deals you should be keeping an eye on, as well as links to product categories and brand pages that you can bookmark directly. We’ve been covering Prime Day every year since it first started in 2015, so we’ve developed a pretty good sense for the types of products that will have the best deals.

Before you crack your knuckles and get to clicking, remember that you must first be an Amazon Prime member in order to access Prime Day deals. Start your free 30-day trial now so you’ll be able to shop on Prime Day and also try out the dozens of other benefits included in your membership.

Read on for a guide to what you should buy on Amazon Prime Day 2019.

Want to stay updated on everything Prime Day 2019? Bookmark this pageandour master guide to the best deals of Prime Day.

Amazon devices and services

Shop Amazon device deals on Prime Day here

Prime Day wouldn’t be complete without nearly every Amazon device and service you can think of going on sale. The bookworm-ish Picks team highly recommends picking up a Kindle ebook reader, along with a Kindle Unlimited membership, both of which make reading more convenient and enjoyable.

You’ll also get excellent bang for your buck in one of Amazon’s many Echo smart speakers. Last year, all but one of them cost under $100. Fire tablets and Fire TV devices, along with Audible and Amazon Music memberships, ensure you’ll be entertained through the rest of summer and beyond.

Speakers and headphones

Shop speaker deals on Prime Day here

Shop headphone deals on Prime Day here

Whether you want to blast your music loud and clear or keep the listening experience to yourself, you’ll be able to save this Prime Day. Deals we’ve seen in the past were no small change: think $300 off KEF Bookshelf Loudspeakers and $50 to $60 off portable Bluetooth speakers from brands like Ultimate Ears. Unlike other categories, which may be dominated by just a few brands, there will be a large variety of speaker and headphone brands fighting to offer the best Prime Day 2019 deals.

Smart security and smart lighting

Shop smart security deals on Prime Day here

Shop smart lighting deals on Prime Day here

There was an almost overwhelming number of smart security camera and smart lighting deals on Prime Day 2018. Amazon-owned Ring usually discounts a number of its cameras, with the Doorbell Pro being the most popular, but the Doorbell 2 and Spotlight Cam are quality alternatives. While Ring devices are doorbell-camera systems, Blink makes dedicated security camera systems if you prefer those.

Inside the home, Philips Hue smart light bulbs are a cool and convenient home upgrade that won’t take much set-up or maintenance. Last year, the deals from Sengled and Leviton also caught our eyes.

Kitchen appliances

Shop small kitchen appliance deals on Prime Day here

If you haven’t joined the cult of Instant Pot yet, Prime Day is your chance because it goes on sale every single year. Other small kitchen appliances you might want to buy are blenders, coffee makers, sous vide cookers, and air fryers. Classic brands like Crock-Pot, Vitamix, Cuisinart, Keurig, and KitchenAid all saw significant deals during past Prime Day events.

Bulk home supplies

Shop bulk home supply deals on Prime Day here

We look through deals all day long come Prime Day, but the deals we end up buying ourselves are also often the most overlooked: bulk home supplies like toilet paper and paper towels. Amazon’s Presto! brand is highly rated and already affordable, and you’ll be able to save even more on Prime Day. After the sales event, you can bet you won’t be running out of toilet paper any time soon.

Vacuum cleaners

Shop vacuum deals on Prime Day here

Top-performing vacuums from brands such as Eufy, Dyson, and iRobot are normally quite the investment. On Prime Day, however, you can usually take $100 off these popular robot vacuum cleaners and cordless vacuum cleaners. There will also be plenty of regular vacuum cleaners on sale, but if you want an especially high-tech and powerful model, we would place our bets on deals from the brands above.

Back-to-school supplies

Shop office and school supply deals on Prime Day here

Prime Day is prime time to get ahead of the back-to-school shopping rush. Although you or your student may not be going back to school until August or September, it’s smart to take advantage of current deals. Last year, we saw deals for supplies (Crayola, Sharpie, Post-It), backpacks (Herschel, Under Armour), laptops (Acer, ASUS, Google), and dorm room essentials (RoomMates, AmazonBasics).

Insider Picks Buying Guide-approved products

See the 100 best products on sale for Prime Day 2018 — that we’ve recommended in our buying guides

When the best of the best are on sale, it’s a no-brainer to go for the purchase. We organize our deal roundups by category (e.g. tech, home and kitchen, baby) and budget (e.g. under $50, under $25), but we also highlight when the products we recommend in our buying guides are enjoying deals on Prime Day. In 2018, we showed you 100 of the best products, from laptops to sports accessories, that were on sale. Check back here this year for a similar guide.